Behind the Shot with Faran Najafi

I Love Architecture PhotographyBy Faran Najafi

Hello readers, I would like to thank Mark Gvazdinskas and the RRS team for giving me this opportunity to share my story and photos with you.

Salk Institute, San Diego

Walt Disney Concert Hall

About me and my gear

I’m a full-time design lead in the tech industry. I’m also a passionate part-time, self-taught, Architecture and Fashion photographer. I started digital photography more than 12 years ago and my first digital camera was 2.0 megapixel Sony Mavica with floppy disk! I currently shoot with Hasselblad H4D-50, Leica M, Fuji X-Pro1 and Canon 5D MK3. My favorite lenses are the Leica Noctilux 50mm 0.95 and Hasselblad HC Macro 120mm II.

Behind the Scenes at Salk Institute

How it started…

With Hasselblad’s support and sponsorship I recently had a great opportunity to experience their new high performance HCD 4.8/24mm ultra-wide angle lens coupled with HTS 1.5 Tilt and Shift Adapter, which are the best options for architecture photography in medium format space.

Behind the Scenes at Salk Institute

I had a plan to visit few interesting Southern California buildings for the first time, including Geisel Library and Salk Institute in San Diego. I also made my second trip to photograph Getty Center and Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles with the medium format camera.

For this trip I planned to keep things light and compact, since it’s not that easy to haul pelican cases around in public places. For architecture photography, one of the main factors that keeps the shots in focus and sharp is the right tripod. For the last couple of months I have been using my TVC-24 Versa Tripod. I couldn’t be happier using this tripod for my studio and on-location assignments. Its light weight and strong structure gave me the ability to improve and expand my photography explorations around the world from Vienna and Salzburg to Munich and Prague – all the way back to California!

Behind the Scenes at Walt Disney Concert Hall

Walt Disney Concert Hall

Los Angeles Getty Center

Photographers that I admire and get inspired by

What is next?

My trips in the next few years are going to be Iceland, Tibet, Nepal and India. With out a doubt, the first thing I pack will be the TVC-24. Please stay tuned for more photos from those trips in near future.

Thank you for sharing, Always great to view beautiful images.
Note to RRS- can you PLEASE design and build a geared or 3D head for us Architecture / Product Photographers 🙂
This would be a very welcomed purchase.
Thank you once again.
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